The
Plant
Brothers operated as china and earthenware manufacturers from the
Crown Works from c.1888-1900. In c.1892 they also operated from works
in Longton.

c.1920
the Crown works were taken by Wood & Sons.

By the early years of the 20th century
Wood & Sons had expanded to include a number of potteries, those included the Trent, New Wharf, Stanley and the Alexandra.

In
1912 Frederick Rhead was appointed as art director of Wood and
Sons. Frederick produced many designs for Woods, amongst them were
the tube lined Elers and Trellis patterns and it was not long
before the popularity of the tube lined designs persuaded Harry
Wood to acquire the Crown Pottery which was adjacent to the
Stanley for the production of art wares.

This
new venture was set up under the name of Bursley Ltd. in 1920. The
Crown Pottery was well equipped being one of the first potteries
in the Stoke on Trent area with a Dressier Tunnel Kiln, until then
all firing at Woods had been done using Bottle Kilns.

In
1931 Susie Cooper was looking for premises to house her fledgling
company and once again Harry Wood showing his unerring eye for new
talent, offered her space at the Crown Works. Wood and Sons became the
main supplier of white ware for the Susie Cooper pottery, thus Harry
combined the support of a new designer with good business. By 1933 the
pottery had become an associate member of Wood and Sons, with Susie
Cooper becoming a director and shareholder of Bursley Ltd. Throughout
this period and up to 1959 when she purchased the factory from Woods,
she retained full artistic control.

The
Second World War brought serious problems since non-essential work was
stopped for the War Effort. A valiant attempt to keep going with
simple patterns was defeated when fire gutted the Crown Works in 1942.
Susie Cooper's reluctance to recommence production after the War was
overcome when her husband, the architect Cecil Barker, joined her in
business.

In
1945 Wood & Sons redeveloped a large part of the works and a new
factory was built - the Stanley Pottery on Newport Lane. Parts of the
buildings of the former Crown Works remained and Suise Cooper contined
to operate from there.

A
second fire brought many problems. In March 1957 the Crown Works was
very badly damaged and production was disrupted for almost a
year.

In
1966 Susie Cooper Pottery merged with Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd.
Her factory, Crown Works, Burslem, remained an autonomous unit until
31 December 1980.

The
Crown Works remained unused but contigious to the main Stanley Pottery
- after a number of years from 1995 onwards struggling to survive,
Wood and Sons finally called in the recievers in 2005. The buildings
were demolished a few years later.

Red is
the location of the former Crown Works (entrance off Newcastle Street)Blue is the location of the former
Lincon PotteryGreen is the location of the former
Victoria Works

closer view of
Newcastle Street the entrance to the Crown Works (shown in red) can be located
by
the Railway Inn (later the Dalehall Inn) (shown in green)
and the Dalehall Post Office (shown in purple) - the post office is
marked on the 1898 map above

Wood
& Sons
In
1945 Wood & Sons redeveloped a large part of the works and a new
factory was built - the Stanley Pottery on Newport Lane.

Susie
Cooper Pottery Ltd
1931 Moved to share the Crown Works, Burslem with Wood and
Sons, her major white-ware supplier.
The event was celebrated with a new backstamp in the form of
her famous leaping deer. Soon after, she launched the first of
her much acclaimed pottery shapes.